"Meet the Press" caused a Boston Marathon victim to walk off the set in tears last week after producers allegedly went back on a promise they had made to her of not mentioning the names of the bombing suspects during the interview.
Adrianne Haslet-Davis, a 33-year-old professional dancer who lost part of her left leg in the April 15 terror attacks, had apparently requested to staffers on the show that bombing suspects Dzokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev not be mentioned by name during the interview, which she claims the show agreed to prior to taping,
the New York Daily News reported.
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Shortly before the segment started, however, Haslet-Davis claimed she was informed that the bombings suspects would in fact be named in the interview, prompting her to refuse to sit for the interview. Soon after, the 33-year-old dancer took to Twitter where she accused the Sunday morning news show of having "disrespected" the survivors of the bombings.
Haslet-Davis subsequently sent a letter to the show, which in part read: "Your decision to back out on that promise you made and the horrific way you brought that decision to my attention just minutes prior to taping was not only a cowardice move but a dishonorable one as well."
"To say that I am hurt is an understatement," Haslet-Davis continued. "For you not only disrespected me, you disrespected the survivors of the bombing and the victims memories by blatantly disregarding this request and putting the value of a terrorist's name, who put a city in turmoil and caused irrevocable damage physically and emotionally to people of this city, over Boston's integrity, fortitude, and my personal well-being."
In response to the issue,
an NBC News spokeswoman released a statement to The Boston Herald that read in part, "[Adrianne Haslet-Davis] requested that the alleged bombers’ names not be used in the entire program, but given the nature of the discussion we couldn’t make that guarantee. We regret any distress caused by this miscommunication."
The spokeswoman added that NBC News president Deborah Turness "personally called [Haslet-Davis] afterward to express regret."
"Meet the Press" host David Gregory also reached out to Haslet-Davis via Twitter, where he apologized on behalf of the show and attempted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the interview that never happened.
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